Tim Mastenbrook

Tim has been traveling to Haiti since 1986. He has made more than 70 trips to Haiti. He “camped out” in our guardhouse for 4 months to help oversee the construction of the first school buildings in the early 1990’s. Tim has worked with many school programs in village churches here in Haiti. For the last 20 years he has brought in speakers for a summer seminar for preachers and leaders from all over northern and central Haiti, and he has led many groups into Haiti to see the work and serve the churches.

At our board meeting, Tim expressed his thanks to God for the blessing of being able to be a part of this work training Haitian men to reach their own people with the Gospel.

SPECIAL HAT– CBT Chapel, January 19, 2015

– Tim Mastenbrook

Greetings to all of you. I have a special cap for each of you today, and I will give them to you after my talk.

When I was wondering what I would talk about today, I remembered something I saw that was very interesting to me, in fact it was wonderful. I saw the members of my team and the students all together putting rice and beans from big sacks into small bags to give them to needy people. One was holding the big sack open, one was scooping, and one was holding the little bag open. You were not Haitians and Americans, not team and students. You were just servants working together, helping each other, everyone doing their part, to accomplish something for the good of others. It was wonderful to see.

Then, as I thought of servants, I also thought of the purpose of the CBT:

“To prepare selected students to be servant evangelists to spread the gospel of Christ, and to minister to the needs of the Haitian people in the Spirit and likeness of Christ.”

To train select Haitian men…

to be servant evangelists…

to spread the Gospel across their nation, and…

to minister to the needs of the Haitian people…

in the Spirit and likeness of Christ.

In the part about being servants, aren’t the donors, the board members, the directors, the students, the staff – all servants working together, helping each other, everyone doing their part, for the sake of the lost and needy?

In the part about being in the likeness of Christ, we can see about that from the Beatitudes.

Was Christ poor in spirit? In the garden, He prayed, “Not my will, but thy will…”

Did he mourn? Yes, “Jesus wept”.

Was He meek, and merciful, and pure in heart? Absolutely.

Did He hunger and thirst for righteousness? Of course.

Was He the peacemaker between God and man? Yes.

Was He persecuted? Indeed, He was.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus taught us how to be “in the Spirit and likeness of Christ”. Being a servant and being Christ-like will guide us in making decisions. When making a decision about the CBT, ask yourself what is best for the purpose of the CBT. The answer is not always what is best for me.

The first CBT building: the water tower

When the CBT was being built, our experienced, international contractor became overwhelmed by the challenges of Haiti and left. Because I wanted what was best for the spread of the Gospel in Haiti, I left my home and my work to live in Haiti for three months… with no electricity, no running water and no wall. During that time of construction when I lived here, I had several health difficulties. It was not best for me to do that, but it was best for the purpose of the CBT.

So let our purpose guide you in your decision-making. I wish it was written on the wall in here to always remind us why we are all here.

And now for your special hat. I put one in front of each of you earlier. It is invisible. It is a “servant cap”. Please, let’s all pick it up right now. Let’s all put them on together.

Now! We are all servants, working together, helping each other, everyone doing their part, to accomplish a purpose, for the good of others. In this way, as the Beatitudes say, we, too, will be blessed.